Judge Howard E. Achtsam (Harlingen, TX) approved 58.3% of decisions at final hearings over 5 years — 12 such decisions in total. National average: 34.9%. Average in this court: 33.0%.
This judge's approval rate is 23.4 pp higher than the national average and 25.3 pp higher than the court average.
Over 5 years, judge Howard E. Achtsam completed 181 cases. Decisions at the final hearing (approval or denial): 12; the rest are decisions at preliminary hearings, in-absentia removals, denials without a hearing, closed, terminated and other cases.
The median time from the start of a case to the decision with this judge is 34 mo.: half of the cases are decided faster, half take longer.
In absentia (the person did not come to the hearing), removal was ordered in 48.1% of all cases; without a merits hearing (pretermission), 0.0% were denied. These cases are not part of the approval rate.
Harlingen, TX. Court page lists all judges of this court and their approval rates.
This is EOIR data (Executive Office for Immigration Review, US Department of Justice) released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as of September 30, 2026. How the figures are calculated — see “How we calculate”.
Achtsam, Howard E., immigration judge (Harlingen, TX). Asylum and other protection-from-removal approval rate at final hearings over 5 years: 58.3%, with 12 such decisions. National average: 34.9%. Court average: 33.0%. Share of applicants with an attorney: 100.0%.
